Understanding animal communication │ 5-Minute Science You Never Knew with Kirsty Graham
I recently filmed this video in collaboration with Pint of Science and Huawei, talking about my research on great ape gestural communication and how we study how other species communicate. Hope you enjoy! And if you want to check out some more great ape gestures, go to the GreatApeDictionary.com!
Many members
of our research group are going to be looking for jobs this coming academic
year, and so we’ve pooled together a list of job boards and resources for
everyone. Figured it might also be helpful for other folks looking for jobs in
the UK! Strong recommend for the civil service jobs – there are a lot being
advertised right now, and I know a few people who have recently joined. Please
comment below if you have any more links that I should add!
Our research group studies quite a few different animal species and we love to do science communication events - so we've got a few resources that we thought would be nice to share with carers of primary/elementary school kids.
One of the activities that we do is a colouring station where kids can colour in masks and learn a little about the animals. We've used masks from supercoloring.com and included a few facts about the animals that we study: chimpanzees, dogs, and parrots!
We also run a little quiz show activity with the masks. After the kids have coloured in a chimpanzee and a dog mask, you can ask them these "chimpanzee vs. dog" questions and they hold up the mask that they think is the correct answer. Questions with a green dot next to them are easier, and questions with a red dot next to them are more challenging. [Disclaimer: some of these questions give a simple answer -- but there are some abilities that both dogs and chimpanzees have. We haven't created the perfect quiz, but we believe it's at a good entry level for primary/elementary school kids!]
And as always, if your kids (or you!) have any followup questions about animal behaviour, I'll do my best to answer them! You can comment on this post or tweet at me @kirstyegraham. Happy colouring!
Happy New
Year! Welcome to what a close friend of mine is calling “the year of not
putting up with any of it anymore”
I haven’t
done a blog post in a long time. I guess I haven’t really felt inspired or
maybe I just didn’t have the time. So let’s get the new decade rolling with a
fiery *WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN THE UNION* blog post.
I’m a
member of the University and College Union, or UCU,
which is the union for higher education and further education in the UK. If you
spend any time around universities in the UK, you’re probably aware of the
strikes that have happened over the last couple of years. We went on strike
over pensions in Spring 2018, and we have just been on strike again and
continue to follow Action Short of Strike (ASOS) over (1) pensions, and (2) pay
inequality, job insecurity, rising workloads, and pay deflation. Each
university union branch votes over whether to engage in industrial action, and
currently a number of branches that were close but didn’t quite get the turnout
are now re-balloting. UCU is in discussions with employers, and we will find
out at the end of January whether there will be further industrial action. I highly recommend checking the Twitter hashtags #UCUstrike#UCUstrikesback for uplifting picket line content.
Striking UCU members outside of Heslington Hall at the University of York
Growing a Union
One thing
that is evident on the picket lines is that union membership is unevenly
distributed across departments (I'm looking at you, natural sciences). Some departments at my university
(hiya, social sciences) have 90% union membership,
where my department doesn’t even have a union rep. This is something that we desperately need to address at a grassroots level.
I am THAT
loud union voice in my department, and this week I was loud at a meeting. After
that meeting I was contacted by two separate people interested in helping to
build the union in our department, as well as a departmental discussion that
could benefit from union presence. The desire for union building is there, we just need to reach it.
What I wish I'd known years ago is : if you are
a PhD you can join UCU free as a student or as a
student who teaches (two different options). The latter allows you to apply to the fighting fund
if you decide to strike. There is a national fighting fund (donate here) and
most branches have local fighting funds, which can help to cover some of the
lost pay during strike action.
"But I love
my job – I get paid to do research – why should I join a union?"
Loving your
job is exactly WHY you should join a union. Loving your job does not exclude
you from stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues brought on
by the increased casualization of our labour. Loving your job does not mean
that you should put up with things that hurt you. When we all stand together,
everyone who loves their job, we can make our jobs better. And – particularly of
importance in the current industrial action – those who have more secure
positions can fight for those who don’t. Working together improves the system
for everyone.
Being in a
union isn’t just about going on strike. It’s about everyday actions of
solidarity, about local campaigns, shifting policy within departments and
within universities. Building a strong union in our own universities
strengthens a community of university staff.
So that’s
my pitch. Unions are vital for workers, and university workers ARE workers too. There is power in a union.
I'm a bit of a fanatic about my field kit and over the years I've whittled it down to the essentials - everything is useful (and everything sparks joy!) Join me as I unpack and lay bare the whole of my material life while on fieldwork.
[Note that my fieldwork is based in tropical regions - some of this information will be useful for fieldwork in other regions, but it's not universal advice] 😊
My Field Clothes
Let's start off with field clothes and the name of the game is quick dry - lightweight
clothes that don't hold moisture and that dry off as you're wearing
them. Doesn't have to be fancy - when I don't need a special fieldsite
T-shirt (like this one at Tangkoko), I usually grab a couple of lightweight button up shirts from a thrift shop. I also really like rubber boots, but it's important to find footwear that works for you. Wellies are great for wet climates and they stop things scratching your ankles, and I really like them. But I know some people find they are heavy, sweaty, or don't have much ankle support. Best recommendation: try out and break in your footwear before fieldwork.
My Hip Pack
This is my hip pack/bum bag/fanny pack (pick whichever makes you giggle most). I wear it around my waist so that it's nice and easy to reach all of the equipment that I might need in a pinch. It's much easier than rummaging through a backpack every time you need your notebook or camera. I wear the binoculars cross-body, slung around my neck and one arm, but I've heard good things about binocular harnesses [find reviews here].
*I use rechargeable batteries for my GPS and strongly encourage you to use them too! I only have single-use batteries in this photo because the rechargeable AAAs that I brought weren't holding charge for our laser pointers - I should have researched and found the best rechargeable AAAs before fieldwork. Also note that rechargeable batteries are slightly thicker, so check that they fit your equipment first - they did not fit in some of our remote controls.
My Backpack
This is my backpack. I use it to carry heavier/bulkier items that I don't need that often. The backpack has an attached rain cover (very useful during the rainy season!) and an emergency whistle (that I've thankfully never had to use). Hot tip for field equipment: Lifestraw do a filter that attaches to a
water bottle, lasts 40,000 litres, and filters out almost all
parasites/bacteria/viruses. Handy if your fieldsite doesn't have a water
filter, and also in an emergency if you need to get water off site. Also, the amount of water that you need to take out with you every day is going to vary by fieldsite.
Things to think about for your fieldwork backpack: - Does it fit
everything you need? - Does it have a waist strap so the weight can be
supported on your hips not shoulders? - Does it have a back vent for
your sweaty back? - Does it have pockets that work for you? - Is it
purple?
My First Aid Kit
Next up in my field kit is First Aid, but the first step to fieldwork health is prevention 👏vaccinate👏vaccinate👏vaccinate👏 Go consult your doctor or travel clinic. Masta Health also has an online tool to check recommended/required vaccines by country https://www.masta-travel-health.com/Booking/Travel
Here's a quick look at my First Aid kit (there's an itemised list below). New to me this field season is that sterile kit - it's a selection of sterile needles and things in case there's an emergency and I need an IV. Good to have, hope I never need it. (Typo in the photo: latex-FREE gloves)
Here is a list put together for everyone in our research group before our fieldwork started. Different environments have different health risks, so your ideal First Aid Kit might not look like mine, but this gives you a good base. As with any medication, check with your doctor first and stay aware if anything starts to react badly - for example, I found doxycycline was incredibly harsh on my stomach and had to switch to another antimalarial. Just things to keep in mind 😊 And fieldsites often have recommended lists of things to bring too!
Travelling in car (stays at camp when not in use): Sterile Kit; Gloves
Camp first aid kit: Tick fork; Thermometer; Malaria test kit; Latex-free gloves; de-worm/de-amoeba; psyllium seeds (constipation relief); instant cool for burns (ice cold); iodine & TCP; Calomine lotion; Vaseline – for mango flies; Cling film – for mango flies; Savlon dry spray; Antihistamine; Eye patch & eye drops; Antimalarials; Steri strips; medical tape; paracetamol; ibuprofen; Imodium – diarrhoea relief; Sennokot (constipation relief); thrush cream – also great for foot fungus!; hydrocortisone cream; sore mouth gel; electrolytes; cystitis treatment; charcoal tablets; hand sanitizer; antibiotic cream; Life systems 50+ insect repellent; strepsil/lemsip (sore throat); gaviscon/antacid
Menstruation in the field
It's that time of the month! What do you take in your field kit to prepare for your period? Different people will find that different things work for them, so instead of me giving you advice, here's a great video from @Ehmee:
It can be uncomfortable to ask about periods & fieldwork so a close friend of mine @OutdoorsPeople put together this pamphlet (click here) that leaders can hand out to students before a trip. It's designed for camping in the UK but has useful advice for any field trip.
Sleepytime 😴
It's almost bedtime, so here's my setup. Night time
temperature can be variable so I have three different options from thin
cotton sheet to three layers. I've heard people recommend silk sleeping bag liners which sound great, but I have a half/half sleeping bag (half cotton sheet and half thin sleeping bag) that is absolutely magic!! And
a boxy mozzy net that doesn't slope and touch my feet. Good night y'all xx
